Site Selectors Guild Awards Five Economic Developers Ady Scholarship
May 12, 2021 – The Site Selectors Guild (the Guild), the professional association of the world’s leading corporate location advisors, announced the five winners of the Robert M. Ady Professional Scholarships program to support economic developers in need. Winners include the following economic developers:
- Tyler Engle, Executive Director, Joint Economic Development Board of Unicoi County, Tennessee
- Kelsey Foster, Executive Director, Algiers Economic Development Foundation, Louisiana
- Rob Harrington, Economic Development Director, Bourbon County Economic Development Council, Kansas
- David Hengel, Executive Director, Greater Bemidji, Minnesota
- Benjamin Vickers, Economic Development Director, Kaysinger Basin Regional Planning Commission, Missouri
The scholarship provides complimentary registration to the Guild’s Annual Conference, June 10-12, 2021, in Orlando, Fla. A scholarship review committee selected recipients based on financial need, accomplishments in economic development and a demonstrated desire to engage with site selection professionals. Candidates from communities typically underrepresented in economic development received priority.
“We are excited to welcome these five deserving economic developers from across the country to our Annual Conference this year,” said Jay Garner, Site Selectors Guild board chair. “Our members look forward to connecting with them, learning more about their communities and hearing their diverse perspectives.”
The scholarship program is named after Robert M. Ady, founder of the Site Selectors Guild and long-term champion of both economic development and site selection. Ady began his career at Fantus Consulting, a progenitor of the site selection profession. As he rose through the ranks and eventually started his own consulting firms, Ady was credited for turning site selection into a viable and influential profession. Ady passed in 2012. The Guild created the scholarship program to honor Ady’s vision for a diverse and inclusive organization.
To learn more about the Robert M. Ady Professional Scholarships program, visit https://siteselectorsguild.com/events/annual-conference/scholarship/.